King of Monsters
by Game777Guy
Summary: Ford has been emotionally damaged by his dad's death. Now that the world is not in peril, Ford can feel the crushing weight of those emotions, as he cannot forgive himself for the state that he and Joe's relationship ended. But, Ford will have to deal with his demons quickly, as all hell is about to break loose. T for violence.
1. Prologue: Past Scars

King of Monsters

* * *

Prologue: Past Scars

* * *

Unnamed Island, Pacific Ocean, 1979.

He was close. He was so close to finally glimpsing the legend again. He hadn't seen it since that day in 1954, but he knew that the legend had reawakened.

"Dr. Serizawa?" his associate, James, asked.

"What is it?" the old scientist replied in his thick Japanese accent. He never did like English all that much.

"Are you certain he's here?" James asked. He was a young scientist, new to the Monarch division. He was distinctly American. At first, Serizawa wasn't looking forward to having to work with the man on his hunt.

Serizawa still had apprehension towards Americans. He would never get over that apprehension, even if he had grown to trust some of them. Surviving Hiroshima had that effect on him. He fingered the stopped watch in his pocket, his memento of that day.

"I am certain," Serizawa replied. "All of the readings point to his movement."

James didn't seem to like that response though. "It could have been another mega-fauna," the young man stated. "It's our job to study creatures like that, so it's conceivable that Monarch sent us here to catalog and contain whatever creature is here."

"You have not seen Gojira with your own eyes," Serizawa replied. "It is an experience that never leaves you."

The two continued to press through the island's jungle in silence, each left to their own thoughts. They had gone on like that for a quarter of an hour. _I am too old for this,_ Serizawa thought to himself as he helped James cut through some foliage.

Boom. Boom. Boom. BOOM. **BOOM.**

"He is here!" Serizawa exclaimed, following the booming, unmistakable sounds of giant footsteps.

"But I thought we fried him 25 years ago!" James exclaimed.

"He survived," Serizawa told James while quickening his pace. "I never doubted it."

Then, the jungle parted, revealing their geographic location on the island. They were on a cliff, overlooking the entire western half of the island. The island itself was a breathtaking sight, but that was not what held the two scientist's attention.

Standing in the surf, water still cascading off his mountainous form was Gojira himself. He was just as massive as Serizawa remembered. The monstrous reptile stood nearly 120 meters tall, and was built like the mountains he so resembled. His head and snout reminded Serizawa of grizzly bears, but the rest of him was more akin to a dragon.

A light was reflected into Serizawa's eye as Gojira began to move onto the shore, shaking the earth with every step. Serizawa turned to the source, and was greeted with a new mega-fauna. This creature was covered in shining, golden scales that reflected the sunlight brilliantly. It stood on four limbs. Its rear legs were thin, but powerful. Its forelegs connected at the back, and looked like they concealed wings. Its neck and tail were thick and powerful. The head was horned, and looked a dragon out of every legend Serizawa had ever known.

Serizawa got the feeling he was looking at a true dragon. Only, this monster was massive. He wasn't as large as Gojira, but at three quarters of the giant reptile's size, the golden-clad beast was a force to be reckoned with.

"What is that?!" James exclaimed in awe, referring to the dragon.

Serizawa thought for a moment. That creature, while very alien to his eyes, seemed eerily familiar.

"I don't know," the old scientist replied at last. "But it reminds me of an old Japanese legend."

"What legend would that be?"

"The legend of Ghidorah."

Both scientists went silent as the titans approached one another to battle. Gojira wasted no time in using the most powerful weapon that Serizawa knew of. The jagged dorsal spines on Gojira's back began to glow a patchy blue, starting at the tip of the tail and moving up his spine as the dragon approached ignorantly.

Serizawa shielded his eyes from the initial flash. When he looked again, the dragon, which Serizawa would call Ghidorah, after the legend, was under the intense blue energy of Gojira's fire blast. Ghidorah shrieked and balked, trying to hide itself from the intensity of Gojira's most powerful weapon. Serizawa could see the scales beginning to glow from the intense heat.

Serizawa felt the hair all over his body stand on end. It felt like the air was suddenly charged with energy. Serizawa saw Ghidorah begin to emanate yellow electricity bolts from its body. Ghidorah opened his maw and sent a massive bolt into Gojira's face. The bolt stopped Gojira's fire barrage.

The two scientists watched in awe as Ghidorah spread its massive wings, and became airborne. _Something that large should not be able to fly!_ Serizawa thought to himself. Another bright flash of light followed.

When Serizawa could use his senses again, he heard his Geiger counter ticking at a rapid pace. He was stunned to see that there was no sign of Ghidorah. The creature had just vanished. As the Geiger counter was winding down, Gojira let out a frustrated roar to the skies where Ghidorah had vanished.

_Ishiro,_ Serizawa thought with worry. He knew that he had just been hit with a large dose of radiation. At his age, there would likely be complications, and he'd be dead within a year or two. _It's time to tell you everything I know._

"Dr. Serizawa," James's panicked voice cut in, "the radiation! It destroyed the camera! Everything we just recorded was wiped out!"

"That is the least of my worries," Serizawa said, thoughts of his son heavy on his mind.

* * *

Tokyo, Japan, 2009.

Ford stepped off the airplane into Tokyo. As he took in the sights of the airport, he realized that his Japanese was extremely rusty. He slightly dreaded what he was about to do. But there was nothing he could do to turn back now.

The cab took him into a cheaper part of town. It had been two years since Ford had last seen him. Could he handle it? For eight years, he'd grown up under an obsessed father. Joe was once a refined, dignified, and proud man. Then the reactor melted down in the earthquake. Ford's mother had died. Joe went crazy, and Ford was left virtually, if not physically, alone.

Ford had been extremely relieved when he finally left his dad in '07. He had immediately signed on to join the Navy. He created a stable life for himself. Then he met Elle. She changed everything. It was then that he realized what his father must have been through when his mother died. To love someone so much, and then lose them in a freak accident… It was a lot. Ford's heart softened towards his father some.

Elle talked Ford into personally inviting Joe to their wedding. Ford, despite what he felt, still thought that it was a bad idea. He may have partially forgiven his father, but Ford wasn't so sure about letting the older man back into his life. Joe was still crazy, regardless of Ford's feelings about the reason for the older man's craziness.

He stepped out of the cab in front of a run-down apartment building. The place had definitely seen better days. Ford recalled the house his family had lived in before the meltdown. It wasn't large, but it was nice, sporting traditional Japanese architecture and was located in a wonderful neighborhood. Now his father had been reduced to this dump.

Ford carefully entered the building, trying not to touch too much, as it obviously wasn't well kept. The lobby was manned by a single clerk, who looked like she would rather be doing something else.

'I am here to see Joseph Brody,' Ford said in Japanese. He was slow and careful with his words, as his Japanese was extremely rusty.

The clerk spoke rapidly, with many words being indistinguishable to Ford. However, he got the general gist of what the woman was trying to say. He left her with an "arigatou" and left to find his father's apartment.

The Navy officer took a deep breath as he stood outside his father's door. Joe had no idea that Ford was coming, and Ford wondered how his dad would react. Hopefully, the older man wouldn't start rambling about his conspiracy theories. Why he couldn't accept the simple truth of what happened that day was something Ford would never understand. After several more breaths, Ford knocked.

The noises of several rusty locking mechanisms could be heard, and the door opened, revealing Joe's tired, unshaved face. The older man stood in a daze for a second, struggling to believe what he was seeing.

"Hi dad," Ford stated simply.

"Ford," Joe said as he let out a breath.

The older man quickly rushed forward to embrace his son. Ford, caught off guard, took a moment to react to what was happening. However, the Navy-man hesitantly returned his father's embrace.

"It's so good to see you!" Joe exclaimed, a light in his eyes.

"Yeah," Ford replied simply.

"What brings you all the way to Japan?"

"Can we step inside?"

Joe realized that they were still in the hallway of the apartment building. "Oh, yes of course," the ex-engineer replied.

Ford followed his father into the apartment. It was a small apartment, with only a main room, a small bathroom, and a bedroom. As Ford examined the place, his heart sank. Newspaper articles, notes, and all sorts of data was scattered about the room. Joe hadn't given up his conspiracies.

"Excuse the mess," Joe stated. "It's just research data I've been collecting."

"Right," Ford stated quietly, hoping that his father wouldn't go any deeper into it.

There was a moment of awkward silence between the two men. They hadn't seen each other in two years. Ford knew that Joe had returned to Japan to further his search for his crazy theories, but a part of him always hoped that Joe could find a way to give it up.

"So, what brings you out to Japan?" Joe asked again.

"I'm getting married," Ford stated simply.

Joe was taken aback. The older man wasn't sure how to react to the news. However, once he was done processing his thoughts, he let out a tentative:

"That's… great!"

"I think so," Ford stated, more to himself.

"Who's the lucky lady?" Joe asked, his voice growing more lighthearted.

"Her name's Elle Martin," Ford responded. "She's…" Ford hesitated. How did he describe someone so perfect? "She's," he tried again, "an amazing woman. Kind-hearted and caring, but very motivated in her own right. She's actually a nurse at San Francisco General Hospital."

Joe gave a genuine smile. "I'm glad you found someone as dedicated to helping others as you are. So, why tell me in person? I'm sure a phone call would have sufficed."

Ford took a deep breath. "It was Elle's idea. She wanted me to personally invite you to the wedding."

Joe's face darkened. "I take it you've told her, then?"

Ford nodded. "She thought it would be good for us if I did this."

Joe nodded in response. A tea kettle started whistling on the stove, and Joe rushed to get it. Ford watched as his father took the kettle off the stove, and poured himself a glass. Joe looked at Ford, silently offering some tea, but Ford declined with a shake of his head.

"When's the wedding?" Joe asked after taking a small sip.

"It's in two weeks," Ford replied.

"Why so soon?" Joe asked, his eyebrows scrunched as he was thinking. "Wait. She isn't…?"

"No!" Ford replied sharply. "The wedding is so soon because I leave for my first tour of duty in three weeks."

"Ah," Joe replied.

There was an awkward silence as Joe continued to sip his tea. Ford heard a clock ticking from somewhere. A radio was quietly going on about something in Japanese.

"Dad?" Ford finally said. "Will you come home with me? Please? There may be some… difficult things between us, but I want you to come home and be a part of this."

"When do you leave?" Joe asked after a moment of thought.

"My plane departs tomorrow night," Ford replied, allowing a glimmer of hope to well up in him. Maybe his dad would finally come to his senses.

Joe shook his head, crushing Ford's hopes. "I can't leave that soon. I'm on the verge of uncovering something big. I have to be here for it."

"Dad," Ford said desperately.

"That day ten years ago was no ordinary accident!" Joe exclaimed, the flames of passion in his voice. "No earthquake could have caused that meltdown! The reactor housings were simply too strong for all but the worst of quakes, and the readings from that day weren't even a 4.0 on the Richter scale! I'm telling you, there's something off about the whole thing!"

"It was an earthquake!" Ford yelled, his emotions boiling over. "Why can't you accept that?! There was an earthquake and a landslide together! I saw the slide with my own eyes!"

"Then you have to know that the official story is a lie!"

"Move on!" Ford yelled in Joe's face. "That's why I didn't want to do this! I'm trying move on from the loss of that day! But every time your 'research' comes up, you drag me back! I'm going to have a family of my own soon! I can't have this hanging over them!"

Ford began to stomp towards the door, enraged. He knew this would happen. He tried to tell Elle, but she wouldn't hear any of it. Against his better judgment, he'd caved to Elle's request. But, more and more, it was looking like a wasted plane ticket.

"Ford!" Joe called. "Don't walk away from this!"

"If this is how it's going to be, then stay here!" Ford told his father. "I don't want any of this in my life anymore!"

With that, Ford left, slamming the door behind him. He stormed off, hoping to never have to hear about his father's crack-pot theories again.

* * *

San Francisco, USA, 2015.

Ford shot bolt upright, drenched in sweat. He'd been reliving his past in nightmares once again. It had been happening ever since the events of a year before. The realization that his father was right coupled with Joe's immediate death had been a cause of constant emotional grief for Ford.

In this particular nightmare, he had been reliving the day he had met his father in Japan, back in 2009. The conversation had played through in his dream, in horrible clarity. Every harsh word in the memory had hit Ford in the gut. He wanted to say something, anything to change what had happened that day, but he could do nothing. He watched helplessly as history played out again. Then, to add to the pain, his nightmare included a new detail, a MUTO leg crashing through the apartment, killing Joe as Ford walked away in disgust.

Ford felt a pair of arms embrace him gently. He released a breath he didn't know he'd been holding as he melted into Elle's embrace. Although, he still felt guilty for waking her up, again.

"What was it this time?" she asked gently.

"Dad," Ford replied simply, feeling tears well up in his eyes. He let them go. These were the tears he never shed when his father was killed.

"Our wedding?" Elle asked him, concern rising.

Ford nodded.

"I'm so sorry," Elle said, her sympathy comforting Ford.

Ford sat in silence. He needed to find a way to deal with these nightmares. And the pain behind them.

* * *

Alpha Centauri Star System, 2015.

A massive golden creature floated in space. A planet wasn't far off. It was once teeming with life, but the golden dragon had laid waste to it, collecting the genetic information found there. The golden creature had evolved, growing two additional heads and gaining even more muscle. It was time to settle a score with an old enemy.

* * *

**A/N: Well, this is the prologue of my first Godzilla fanfiction. Since I am such a huge Godzilla fan, this project was more or less inevitable. Although, it's probably the least developed of my stories, so it likely won't see as many updates as my other two projects. As for the content of this chapter, I used several sources, including Dr. Serizawa Sr. from Godzilla: Awakening. And I pulled Elle's maiden name from the Steve Martin character from 1956's Godzilla: King of the Monsters, as tribute to the classic film. Please leave a review to tell me what you think. Also, since I don't have a clearly ironed-out plot as of yet, story ideas are welcome. That said, don't be offended if an idea goes unused, as it has to fit with what I'm going for.**


	2. Monster Hunters

Chapter 1: Monster Hunters

_What the heck am I doing?_ Ford thought to himself, staring out of the C-17's window. The ocean was rolling past him, oblivious to the cares of the MAMCU officer. He had to wonder what he was thinking, taking an officer's position in the new unit.

The Monarch Anti Mega-fauna Combat Unit was established in the wake of the San Francisco attack the year before. After that attack, more giant animals made their presence known, making an anti-mega-fauna unit necessary. They were a small unit, but they were armed with the most advanced weapons science could produce. The reason for said arming was that nukes or other expensive missiles were not preferable for dealing with monsters that could be safely handled by other means. Also, there were monsters that, for various reasons, could counter the missiles and required boots on the ground and extreme precision. Ford was invited to the unit at its conception. His work in San Francisco was noted by the brass, particularly admiral Stenz, and he was offered the job, along with a significant promotion and pay raise.

Which brought him back to his current dilemma. He didn't come away from San Francisco unscathed. He had lost a lot. He had lost the monster-free vision of the world. He had lost the idea that humanity was the most powerful force on the planet. He had lost his confidence in what he could do. But, most of all, he had lost his father. So why was he here? It wasn't that he was a greedy man, he just wanted to get by. He knew that his family would benefit from his increased pay, but was that the whole reason? He was emotionally damaged, darn it! Why would he continue to mix with monsters like those that had caused his pain?

"Mr. Brody," Dr. Serizawa said, interrupting Ford's train of thought.

The older man was assigned to MAMCU as a consultant. His information had proven vital for several take-downs, some of which spared major cities from certain disaster.

"Yes, doctor?" Ford acknowledged.

"We are nearly at the drop zone," Serizawa informed. "It is time for the final briefing."

"Right," Ford muttered as stood, preparing to address his men.

Ford moved from where he was to where the men were. They all stood at attention as soon as Ford was visible. Ford scanned their faces. All of the soldiers wore the same 'at-attention' expression. Their unity was a key part of what made the unit function. Despite the many different backgrounds of the men and women standing at attention, they all united for their common purpose: slaying monsters.

"At ease," Ford said, preparing to give the final briefing. "We are nearing the drop zone in the Ryukyu Islands. The monster we're hunting first appeared on the southernmost of the islands, and has been reported to be island-hopping, making its way to the Japanese mainland. Its movement patterns indicate that, should it arrive on the Japanese mainland, it could possibly cause significant damage to several major cities, including Kagoshima, Nagasaki, Fukuoka, and Kitakyushu. We're intercepting it just north of Okinawa to prevent this. I know we've been over this, but you all need to know the plan. We drop into the combat zone and pump lead into all the creature's weak spots. Keep your distance, as this one's a bit different. Dr. Serizawa will explain all that we know about the creature's biology."

Ford stepped back as Dr. Serizawa, wearing a simple outfit consisting of jeans, a nondescript shirt, hooded jacket, and hat, stepped forward. He had some sort of tablet in his hands, likely displaying the information that had been collected about the creature.

"This creature is in the reptile family," Serizawa began. "It greatly resembles geckos, but on a much larger scale. The creature rises to a height of approximately 75 feet and is over 200 feet long. The creature is capable of focusing its vocal capabilities into a concentrated sonic attack, which has caused missile attacks to fail. Beware of that ability as you approach, as you will not survive that attack. This attack is also the reason for the increased insulation in your helmets. Its hide is tough, but its belly is vulnerable, as well as the joints. But these weak spots will not be easily exploited, as the creature carries itself low to the ground, and moves very fast for a large animal."

Serizawa concluded and stepped back, allowing Ford to once again take control.

"All right," Ford started, "any questions?"

There was silence. A few of the soldiers looked at each other, and Ford could hear murmurs go throughout the group.

"Speak up," Ford ordered. "If you wait till the mission to ask questions, it'll be too late."

"Sir?" a young woman spoke up, raising her hand. She was no older than 22, with dark brown skin and straight, black hair. She had large eyes that were almost as brown as her skin.

"Ridgeway?"

"Wouldn't the sonic attack that the doc mentioned be dangerous for a drop?"

It was a legitimate question. Fortunately, Ford had the answer. "We'll be dropping one-and-a-half klicks ahead of the creature's current location," Ford explained.

"That should be out of its range," Serizawa added.

"Anything else?" Ford asked his men.

There was a unified, "Sir, no sir!"

"Then finish prepping your equipment. We drop in five mikes at fourteen-thirty-one."

Ford dismissed the unit, moving to get his own equipment. He slung a bag full of ammo to his back, making sure to properly secure it. He then secured a parachute. He fastened an oxygen mask to his face, preparing for the jump. He checked his MAR to be sure it was in working order.

MAR stood for Magnetic-Accelerator-Rifle, a first-of-its-kind next-gen weapon. The rifle shot traditional .223 ammunition, same as the standard military issue, but this gun had an electromagnetic system surrounding its barrel. The magnets would accelerate the bullets up to Mach 4, or nearly 3,000 miles per hour. The intense speed of the bullets allowed them to pierce the extremely tough hides that were common in many of the monsters. Despite the advanced equipment, the rifles had proven extremely durable. Not one member of the unit had needed to get any sort of maintenance for it aside from routine cleaning. However, Ford wasn't sure how the weapons would fare against something as tough as Godzilla. He hoped that Godzilla would never get on Monarch's radar in a bad way, as he was confident that MAMCU couldn't stop him.

"Ford," Serizawa's voice called.

Ford turned to look the Japanese scientist in the eye. The man looked troubled, like something wouldn't go right in their mission.

"Yes?" Ford responded, securing his MAR to his pack.

"We were not able to study the creature in great detail," Serizawa informed. "It may have surprises in store. Make sure you are ready."

Ford nodded as the jump warning sounded. The captain took his place with his troops. The rear door of the C-17 opened, allowing the pressurized air to rush out of the plane, taking with it all the warmth. Ford was briefly reminded of his jump into San Francisco, but shook the thoughts off. He had a mission to complete.

The plane blared the signal to jump. With a crashing of boots, the soldiers all rushed towards the open skies. Ford ran off the edge of the ramp with no second thoughts. Following what was fast becoming a reflex, Ford spread out his arms and legs, slowing his fall. Unlike the San Francisco jump, the day was clear, and Ford could clearly see the island below. It was a small island, no more than 5 klicks in total diameter. The bright blue ocean contrasted with the deep green of the island's foliage. Ford could also see a brown trail, about one klick long, that went from the shore to somewhere in the island. That would be the monster.

Ford mentally braced himself as the air rushed past, practically letting him hear the distance between himself and the ground shrink. The temperature was fast increasing, as Ford could feel the warm, sub-tropical air penetrate his suit. The wetness in the air didn't help any, and Ford knew that his uniform would be soaked by the time he touched ground.

They were almost down now. Ford could make out trees as the ground rushed up to meet him. He could catch glimpses of little streams and rivers. But he also caught glimpses of their monster. Serizawa's report had been accurate, the creature shared remarkable similarities to a gecko. The creature wasn't moving as fast as the preliminary reports suggested it could, so Ford hoped that it was a sign of exhaustion.

He pulled his chute, turning his fall into a glide. Ford looked around, and saw that the unit was following his lead. One trooper had problems with their chute, and, for a second, it seemed that the trooper wouldn't make it. Then the reserve chute popped open, and Ford gave a sigh of relief. He guided himself to an area of the local forest that wasn't as dense as the rest.

As Ford touched down, he shucked the chute, letting the thing fall to the ground a little ways behind him. He took a few quick steps forward to compensate for the landing energy, then watched for the rest of the unit. They all landed in quick succession, regrouping with Ford within minutes.

"The monster's about one klick south of us," Ford told them. "We cut it a little close. Let's move."

Several soldiers drew machetes as they moved into the sub-tropical forest. There were many rather large bushes, containing dense clusters of green leaves. The soldiers in front removed those obstacles rather quickly. The trees were rather large, and just had to be avoided altogether.

The monster's screech could be heard now. Ford was glad for the extra padding in his helmet, as the roar was very high pitched, worse than the sound of tea kettle going off or a soprano in falsetto. The sheer volume of the creature's roar caught Ford off-guard, though it should not have, as the creature's main weapon was a sonic attack.

15 minutes ticked by. The soldiers were moving more warily now, as the creature had stopped releasing its roars. Everyone looked at the foliage, as if the giant lizard would jump out at them from anywhere. If there were any local animals, they had long since fled from the monster's path. The island was making no noise. It was a deathly silence, and Ford didn't like it at all.

Gradually, the loud crashing of footsteps uprooting trees came into focus. The troopers tensed, waiting for either orders or for the creature to make an appearance. Ford decided that they would stop advancing and wait for the creature to come across their path.

"Stop here," the captain whispered. "Scatter, and attack it from all sides when it passes us. Keep your MARs in standard fire mode. We don't need the hum of the magnets giving away our position. Switch only when you're about to fire."

The team hurried to follow his orders, quickly spreading out and disappearing into the forest. Ford ducked into an area of bushes along with one other soldier. Ford briefly noted that it was Ridgeway. She seemed excited.

"You ready to kick some monster tail?" Ridgeway whispered excitedly.

"This is your first real mission, isn't it?" Ford whispered back.

"Yep" Ridgeway replied, still whispering in an upbeat tone. "I'm ready to pay back those pains-in-the-rear that destroyed 'Frisco."

Ford went silent. Memories of that day were a sore spot for him, and the members of the unit that had been there longer all knew not to bring it up. Hopefully, Ridgeway wouldn't press the issue. Otherwise, she'd find out firsthand about Ford's distaste for the subject. It briefly brought back the dilemma of why he was here at all.

"It's a real honor to work with you, sir," Ridgeway whispered respectfully. "You're a hero to many people like me."

"I'm no hero," Ford told her. "I'm just a man trying to do what's best for his family."

"Understood, sir."

The crashing that Ford had noted earlier was practically on top of them. This conversation was over.

"Get ready," Ford ordered, shouldering his rifle.

A massive head went right by where Ford and Ridgeway were encamped. It was followed by an even larger body, supported by legs that were as thick as the trees around them. The monster was coated in a smooth armor of green scales, and had spinal protrusions along his back, not unlike Godzilla's, just on a smaller scale. The feet were wide and had sharp, large, retracted claws. The creature's eyes were scanning around, searching for any threat.

Ford held his breath, moving the index finger of one hand onto the trigger and the thumb of his other hand onto the switch that turned on the magnets. Ford was vaguely aware of Ridgeway doing the same. The bulk of the creature's body slid by, and Ford saw none of the weak points that Serizawa had explained. The creature seemed to be aware of the fact that showing his weak spots could result in it getting killed.

It was time to lead by example. In less than a second, Ford had activated the magnetic coils in his rifle, releasing a satisfying hum, and begun pulling the trigger. The automatic fire and the high velocity rounds hitting its hide made the creature stop, hissing in annoyance. Before it could fully face Ford, more automatic fire opened, confusing and enraging the creature. Suddenly, it was being pelted from all sides and had seemingly nowhere to go.

Ford began moving, making careful sidesteps to avoid the creature's massive tail and legs, which it kept thrashing everywhere, knocking over trees with great wooden cracks. The creature let out a massive roar. Ford ducked, dropped his gun and pressed his hands to his ears. The roar was ear-splittingly lout. Even with the extra padding in his helmet, he felt like his head was going to explode.

Suddenly, the com lines went abuzz. The troops were panicked, asking for orders. Ford tried to focus on something in the chaos, but it was difficult. After a moment, he gathered that the creature had used its sonic attack, and that two of the troops were now dead. However, the creature was still stuck, as the rain of gunfire continued, giving it nowhere to go.

Ford picked his gun back up, trying to aim at the joint between the creature's right-rear leg and its body. Ford pulled the trigger, eliciting a pained howl from the creature as it rapidly rotated to face him. Before Ford could do anything, the massive reptile was staring him in the eye, ignoring the pelting fire coming from all around it.

_Crap,_ Ford thought as the creature took in a deep breath. He'd only have a split second to dodge this. Ford darted to the side, just as the debilitating roar tore through the forest. As he hit the ground with a thud, he saw the effect that the creature's sonic attack had. It was a focused, beam-like disruption of the air. The air affected by the sonic attack looked cloudy, and swirled as if Ford was staring through water and not air. There was also the painfully loud howl.

The creature stopped the attack rather quickly, having noted that it missed. Ford saw that it was sucking in another breath, but this time it was rearing up to do so. Ford shot it just below the throat, causing it to recoil in pain. The other troops wasted no time, pumping lead into the exposed creature. It roared in pain, and Ford saw the distortion of the sonic attack rise into the sky as the creature died.

The dead creature collapsed to the forest floor with a massive thud, breathing its last. The troopers slowly emerged from hiding. Ford did a quick headcount, and saw that a total of five men had been killed. Their losses would be mourned, but that was the best casualty rate of any mission yet.

"That was intense," Ridgeway said from somewhere behind him.

Ford nodded. The adrenaline was still running, and his head felt a little cloudy. "It was a rush, but it wasn't the worst mission we've ever been on."

"I can't imagine what the worst would be," Ridgeway muttered, moving off to do who-knows-what.

He looked at the carcass of the creature. That had been one of their smoothest missions to date. Everything went according to plan and losses were minimal. Ford had to be grateful for that. There had been other missions that had not gone so well. He shuddered, recalling a mission that had gone wrong in nearly every way. The team had dropped in the Sahara, and the monster evaded them. They spent a brutal week hunting it back down. The casualties from that battle had been severe.

Ford shook his head of the memories. Right now, he had to extract his team from the island. If the troops left on the C-17 had followed his instructions, and he was sure that they did, there would life boats waiting for them on the nearest shore. Ford rallied his team and ordered them to press towards the beach. He also ordered his strongest men to gather the dead. The least they could do for them was give them a proper burial in their respective homes.

Darkness surrounded. It was cold. What life there was took strange forms to live. The ocean-scape where HE rested was barren. Most life avoided the titan's lair. They knew he didn't like trespassers. Even the mightiest of sea creatures quailed before him.

Godzilla was resting. The battle against his ancient foe had taken much from him. He needed to recharge. To heal. And his wound had closed. His strength had returned. He would need it. He could hear his most ancient foe returning. Godzilla had to end this eternal battle.

**A/N: Here it is, the highly anticipated first chapter. At least, that's my impression based on the response to the prologue. Here I show a little of what Ford has done with his life after the San Francisco attack. I also show a dilemma that should wind up becoming a major part of the plot. And, also, I show that Godzilla is stirring, preparing for Ghidorah to arrive. Let's see how this plays out. Anyway, leave a review, and tell me what you think. Hearing your voices gives me motivation to write.**

**On another note, I'm happy to announce that my friend, RonnyBravo the Breadghost, has signed on to co-author/edit this story. I'm glad to have him along, as his non-Godzilla-fan eyes may be able to help me bring out a believable story, even if it's not exactly realistic (what's realistic about giant monsters?). He'll also be giving me character advice and story ideas. I may even let him helm a chapter or two, depending on the needs for the chapter. Since I'm an uber-Godzilla fan (I drove my family and friends nuts with my hype for the 2014 film), having his non-fan eyes will help me temper down some things that would otherwise be too extreme to believe. So, let me know what you think of this development. I look forward to hearing the response.**


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